A circuit board, that may be a printed circuit board (PCB), includes many layers of conducting and nonconducting material. The PCB contains signal traces connecting the input and output pins of electronic components that may perform a particular function or set of functions. Examples of components that may be integrated within a PCB include memory devices, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and processing devices such as digital signal processors (DSPs). Each PCB may have one or more ground planes and power planes that connect to the electronic components.
In a PCB, electronic components are connected to each other through signal traces. In order to route in and out of the small pins of the electronic components, the signal traces may have to be of the same sufficiently narrow width. Some of the signal traces connecting electronic components may have to be of low impedance and low direct current (DC) resistance to carry high frequency and other types of signals. Because the impedance and resistance of a signal trace generally decreases with increasing trace width or, vice-versa, increases with decreasing trace width, the narrow width for routing generally makes the trace impedance and resistance high.
Signals being driven between the electronic components through the signal traces on the same layer of the PCB may be subject to detrimental impedance effects. One manifestation of these impedance effects is unwanted reflections due to impedance mismatches. The signals may also be prone to cross-talk and electromagnetic interference (EMI).
The impedance of a trace is also affected by the distance between the trace and adjacent conducting planes on layers above and below the trace. Thus, the conflicting requirements described for the two situations above suggest that for each situation the signal traces be routed on separate layers. However, the additional layers needed to provide route paths may increase the cost of a PCB.